Gas burner



'Jan. 9, 19 0 J. E. LEONARD ET AL ,186, 88

GAS BURNER Filed Dec. 3, 1937 Flt-i 'l INVENTORS l5 JOSEPH E. LEONARD CHARLES T. HAMMONS 2 Jaw Patented Jan. 9, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GAS BURNER Joseph E. Leonard and Charles TaHammons, Berkeley, Calii'., assignors to Hammer-Bray Company, Ltd, Oakland, Calif., a corporation of California Application December a, 1937. Serial No. 177,889

. 9 Claims. (c|.' 158-116) The invention relates to gas burners and more particularly to the type of burner used in the top gas burner compartment of a cooking stove or range.

In the past few years there has been an effort to develop and use a round or circular type burner in gas stoves instead of the star shaped burner heretofore used for many years. The round or circular burner possesses certain advantages in construction, being generally somewhat easier and cheaper to manufacture and also provides an attractive looking burner from an appearance standpoint. 0n the other hand, however, the old star shaped burner has been recognized as one of the most efficient types of gas burners obtainable and provides higher efliciency and a greater heating capacity than the so-called round or circular burner heretofore produced.

The round or circular burner generally consists of an annular ring-like housing having a central axial opening and a plurality of ports in the top annular surface of the burner head. The greatest number of these ports is provided around the outer circumferential edge of the top surface where an abundance of air for supporting combustion is available. The burning of gas jets from these ports establishes a ringlike flame which tends to extend upwardly and outwardly and sweep around the outer surface of the bottom of a pot or the like mounted on the grate bars over the burner, and produces a substantial void or low pressure area towards the center of the burner. As will be understood, a burner to be of greatest efliciency and heating capacity, must provide for a substantially uniform distribution of heat over the surface to be heated, such as the bottom of a pot or the like, and in the circular type burner described practically no heat is produced at the center of the burner. To increase the heat at the center of these burners it has been proposed to use gas ports around the inside edge of the top annular surface. The burning produced by such ports has been unsatisfactory for the reason that the relatively great velocity and volume of air passing up through the open center of the burner into the void or low pressure area produced by the ring flame above described, causes a poor and inefficient burning at the inside ports and frequently causes the flame tips to raise from and float above these inside ports.

In accordance with the present invention and as a rincipal object thereof, we have provided for an air control and guiding means within the open center of a round or circular type burner 01 the character described which wfll control and feed secondary air to the inside ports of the burner in such a manner as to provide complete and proper combustion thereat. By the use of the present means the number of fuel ports around the inside edge of the annular type surface of the burner may be increased manyfold over that heretofore used in the so-called round or circular type burner.

We have found that another reason for the improper burning of fuel around the inner edge of the top annular surface of the burner is due to a large extent to the presence of certain convection currents of the products of combustion which pass from the outer ring flame across the under side of the pot or the like over the burner and circulate down and across the face of the burner. of combustion across the face of the burner tends to choke off and disturb the burning supported by the inside fuel ports. In accordance with the present invention, however, and as another object thereof, we provide for a deflector member adjacent the center of the burner for shielding the inside ports from such convection currents and utilize such currents for producing a proper low pressure area around the ports for supporting combustion.

A further object of the invention is to provide a burner oi the character described wherein the top surface-of the burner will be formed as a 'polished radiant heat reflector capable of confining and concentrating and reflecting radiant heat incident thereon to the under side of a pot or the like positioned over the burner, which heat has been heretofore for the most part absorbed in the burner housing.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a burner constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the burner illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the The sweeping of these products burner taken substantially on the plane of line 3-4 of Figure 2.

The burner illustrated in the accompanying drawing comprises a housing 4 having an elongated burner throat or manifold 5 arranged at an end 6 with a gas inlet passage 1 and air mixing valve 8. The housing is formed at its opposite or head end 9 substantially annular in form including an outer circumferential side wall I I, top and bottom annular walls I! and I3, and an inside circumferential wall it, defining an open central portion ll. Both the manifold and head portions of the housing are formed of hollow construction so as to provide an elongated passage IS in the manifold or throat for the mixing of gas and primary air and an annular passage IT in the head portion which is communicated with the passage I6 at the junction of the head and manifold and operates to distribute the gas and primary air around the burner head for issuance through a plurality of sets of ports It and iii in the top wall I! of the head. As will be seen from Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, the ports i8 and iii are in the form of a plurality of openings or passages which may be drilled or otherwise formed through the top wall II of the burner head and are arranged in substantially concentric rings with the ports ii at approximately the outer edge of the top wall and the ports l9 adjacent the inner edge of the top wall. The burner is arranged for mounting in the top gas burner compartment of a cooking stove or the like and is here shown mounted in a circular opening 2| provided in the splasher plate 22 in the compartment and directly below a plurality of radially extending grate bars 23 upon which pots and other cooking utensils are supported.

As above indicated, one of the important features of the present invention is the provision of means for controlling and guiding air passing through the central passage M in the burner head for supporting proper combustion at the innet set of ports l9. This means consists briefly of a structure in the opening H which acts to constrict the flow of air therethrough, establish a certain amount of turbulence to retard the velocity of such air, and to guide the air laterally or radially across the face of the burner to supply secondary air to the ports I. The means for initially restricting the flow of air through the passage ll consists of a member 24 mounted in the opening and here shown formed as a web cast integrally with the head and which is supported from the inner circumferential wall I! of the head by means of relatively narrow horizontal portions 21 which connect with an enlarged circular portion 2|! at the center of the opening II. In this manner a pair of substantially semicircular slots 29 and SI are provded in the open portion ll of the burner for supplying a predetermined amount of air to the inside of the burner. It will be noted that the plane of the member 14 is substantially below the inner edge of the top wall it of the head so that air passing through the slots 29 and 3| will become uniformly distributed around the interior of the burner and will support combustion at ports located directly over the portions 21 of the member 24, which would otherwise not receive a proper amount of air if such portions were positioned immediately under the ports. Mounted on the member 24 is a hood-like member 32 which is provided with a relatively small shank portion 33 supported centrally on the member 24 as by means of a stud 84 and extends upwardly from the member 24 to a point spaced well above the inner edge of the top wall of the burner head, where the same is Joined with a. laterally extending enlarged portion 3! which is provided with a substantially horizontal under side 31 spaced above and extending approximately to the inner edge of the top wall II. There is thus defined between the member 24 and the portion 36 an enlarged annular chamber with respect to the size of the passages provided by the slots 29 and 3| and the passage defined between the under side 31 of the portion 38 and the top surface ll of the head. As a result, the air rising through the passage H is first constricted at the slots 29 and 3|, then expanded in the intermediate chamber to reduce the velocity of the air and to establish some turbulence, and is then guided radially outward by the under side 31 of the portion 36 in proper amount and velocity to the ports I! for supporting combustion thereat. In this connection it will be noted that the passage provided between the under side 31 and top wall I2 of the head is somewhat larger than the passage through the slots 29 and II, so that a substantial reduction in velocity of the air is produced.

The air guided radially across the top surface of the head from the central air passage also assists combustion at the outer ring of ports l8. To take maximum advantage of this air at the ports IS, the latter are preferably drilled at an angle so as to approximately parallel the top surface I! over which the air is passed thereto. In the present arrangement the surface I! has the added functionof a heat reflector and for this reason, is preferably concave in shape, as is more fully hereinafter set forth. However, since it is highly desirable to arrange the axes of the ports as near vertical as possible, the outward and upward curve of the surface enables the arranging of the port axes with a substantial upward inclination while maintaining the approximate parallel relation aforesaid. In conformity with this arrangement, means is provided for guiding the main supply of secondary air to the ports it, that is the air rising about the outer circumference ll of the head, to engage the gas issuing from the ports l8 along an axis approximately parallel, but slightly inclined, into the axis of the ports. This is effected as here shown, by providing a lateral shoulder 38 around the ports l8 so as to position the latter inwardly from the outer circumferential side Ii, whereby the upward movement of the air past the shoulder 38 will produce a reduced pressure area adjacent the ports and cause a proper deflection and co-mingling of the several air and gas streams.

Another important feature of the present invention and as hereinabove mentioned, is the fashioning of the top surface I! of the head as a polished heat reflecting surface whereby heat radiated to this surface from the flame, grate bars, and under surface of the pot or utensil, is reflected upwardly in concentrated form against the underside of the cooking utensil instead of being, for the most part, absorbed by the burner housing. We have found that a most effective reflecting surface for this purpose is a relatively shallow spherical concave surface on the top wall I! of the burner head, which arrangement is carried out in the present embodiment and is effective to confine and reflect radiant heat incident thereon. There is left, however, the substantial area at the center of the head co-extensive with the central air e and in order placed over the cooking grate.

c eeses to take advantage of this area for similarly re fleeting heat, we arrange the top surface 39 of the air controlled member 32 as a polished heat reflecting surface. We have found that the ele' vation of this member relative to the remainder of the top surface is advantageous in reflecting certain heat rays which might otherwise be lost, and have further found it desirable to fashion this surface 39 as a spherical convex surface.

Another important feature of the present invention is the control and guidance of convection currents of products of combustion which normally circulate between the top of the burner and the under side of the cooking utensil. Unless care is exercised in construction of a circular type burner of the present type, these convection currents will seriously interfere with'the combustion at the center of the burner and cause the burning lets thereat to float or to disappear entirely. In accordance with the present construction, the enlarged portion 36 of the member I2 lying over the central opening through the burner head is utilized to deflect these convection currents away from the inner ring of ports II to not only prevent interference with the burning at these ports, but to also cause a pressure reduction which assists proper burning at these ports. This may be readily seen in the normal operation of the present burner by observing the operation of the burning jets at the ports I. with and without a pot or other utensil Upon so positioning the utensil, the burning jets at the ports ll become sharper and clearer deflned and stronger generally than when such utensil is absent. We have also found that a preferred form of the top surface II of the member 82 for most eflectively deflecting these-convection currents is a convex surface of substantially the same curvature as that found most effective for refleeting the heat as above described.

We claim:

i. A gas burner having an annular burner head provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced ports in the top surface thereof, said surface having a concave curvature in radial section to reflect upwardly heat radiation incident thereon.

2. A gas burner comprising, a housing with a plurality of fuel ports on an exterior surface thereof, said surface being polished and having a spherical concave curvature to reflect and concentrate towards the axis thereof radiant heat incident thereon.

3. A 'gas burner comprising, an annular housing having a plurality of circumferentiarlly spaced portsinthetopsurfacethereofandhaving an open central portion for passage of air, said surface being polished and substantially concave to reflect and concentrate radiant heat incident thereon, and a member providing a reflecting surface mounted in said open central portion in ,spacedrelationtotheinneredgesofsaidflrst surface to admit air therebetween.

4. A gas burner comprising, an annular housing having 'a plurality of circumferentially spaced ports in the top surface thereof and havinganopencentralportionforpassageofair, said surface being polished and substantially concave to reflect and concentrate radiant heat incident thereon, and a member providing a reflectinggurfaceatsaidcentralportioninspaced position over the inner edge of said first surface to admit air therebetween and being substantially as large as said opening to reflect radiant heat from the central portion of said housing.

5. A gas burner comprising, an annular housing having a plurality of circumferentially spaced ports in the top surface thereof and having an open central portion for passage of air, said surface being polished and substantially concave to reflect and concentrate radiant heat incident thereon, and a member mounted in said open central portion and provided with a polished top convex reflecting surface and bein spaced from the sides of said flrst surface to admit air therebetween.

6. A gas burner comprising, an annular housing having an open central portion for passage of air and being provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced ports on the top surface thereof, means in said open central portion spaced below said top surface for restricting the passage of air through said central portion, and a second means spaced above said top surface and adapted to deflect said air outwardly across said ports, the passage between said flrst and second means providing an expansion chamber to retard the velocity of air communicated with said ports.

7. A gas burner comprising, a horizontal annular hous.ng having an open central portion for passage of air therethrough and provided with a plurality of ports on the top surface of said housing, means mounted in said central portion below said surface for restricting the passage of air therethrough, and means overlying said surface at said central portion for directing air radially across said surface, the passage area between said first and second means being greater than at said flrst means.

8. A gas burner comprising, an annular housing having a central air passage and provided with a plurality of fuel ports on the top surface thereof, means extending across said passage below said surface for restricting the passage of air therethrough, a member mounted on said means and having a stem extending upwardly through said passage and an enlarged head portion overlying the inner edge of said surface to position its edge at substantially equal distances above and inward fromfuel ports for directing air radially thereacross, the under side of said head portion being arranged at substantially right angles to said stem to produce a turbulent flow of air between said means and said head to retard the velocity of such flow.

9. A gas burner comprising, an annular housing having an interior gas chamber and an inlet passage thereto and formed with an open central portion for passage of air and provided with an annular radially extending surface concave in radial section with the outer edge extended axially beyond the inner edge thereof and formed with a plurality of circumferentially spaced ports in said surface between said inner edge and said outer edge and communicated to said interior chamber, and a member extending across said open central portion in spaced relation to said surface to. deflect air passing through said center portion radially outward across said ports, said member having an axial position intermediate said inner and outer edges of said surface.

JOSEPH E. LEONARD. CHAR-LIB 'l. MONA 

